Senate Dems: $750,000 on hand; $1.45M in debt

With four months to go until the November elections, the state Senate Democrats’ campaign committee remains about $1.45 million in debt with just $750,000 on hand.

According to spokesman Mike Murphy, the Senate’s minority conference raised about $730,000 since March, giving them a total of $3.3 million raised since January 2011.

But a significant debt from the 2010 election cycle still lingers, and remains unchanged since the conference’s filing in March. (The debt was $1.78 million in January.)

It all means the Senate Democrats — who currently hold 29 of 62 seats in the Senate — face an uphill financial battle when it comes to retaking control of the chamber in November. The Senate GOP today reported a total of $5.4 million on hand between their two campaign accounts.

Today’s filings sparked something of a war of words between spokesmen for the two main Senate conferences. Senate GOP’s Scott Reif chimed in first, after his conference’s filing was made public:

“Republicans have $5.4 million on hand, even after making significant investments in districts we expect to be competitive this fall. This financial advantage, along with a record of accomplishment that includes reducing spending two years in a row, enacting a property tax cap, and laying the foundation to create thousands of new private sector jobs, show Republicans are poised to grow our majority.”

Senate Dems’ Mike Murphy responded:

“As usual, Senate Republicans are more comfortable dealing in fantasy rather than reality. Despite the abuse of their majority status to rake in special interest money, the cash-on-hand advantage for Senate Republicans has remained roughly the same as it was in January, putting Senate Democrats on a competitive footing as we move into the political season.”

And after the Senate Democrats’ bottom line was made public, Reif issued another statement:

“The numbers Democrats are crowing about are anemic, even by minority party standards. Two years ago, when Republicans were in the minority, we had nearly $2.5 million on hand and no debt. Democrats have little cash on hand and are deep in debt. Their formula is not a winning formula.”